Bengal students ragged on Facebook

Kolkata, Aug 2 (IANS) Two first-year students of a reputed West Bengal engineering institute have alleged that they were abused and harassed by their seniors on social networking site Facebook, a varsity official said Tuesday.

The vice-chancellor of Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) in Shibpur in Howrah district has received a complaint from the Trinamool Congress Chatra Parishad (TMCP) that the two students were ragged and threatened by senior students of the institute on the social networking.

“Last night, we received a complaint from Trinamool Congress Chatra Parishad president Shankudeb Panda that two first-year students were ragged by senior students of our institute on Facebook. We have formed a committee comprising three professors to investigate the matter,” BESU registrar Biman Bandopadhyay said.

He said they also received copies of the conversations posted on Facebook.

“We have seen the copies of the Facebook conversations. Now the question is, if they were ragged then what stopped them from approaching the university authorities.

“And on Facebook, you can also find many false accounts and after joining the institute on July 25, how come the first-year students accepted friend request from senior students within five-six days,” said Bandopadhyay.

He said that state Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu called up the university vice chancellor to ask him to conduct an inquiry into the matter.